TV special on Crimson Tide nothing to lose sleep over

Published: Monday, March 1, 2004 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, March 1, 2004 at 7:57 a.m.

Alabama fans who got up early Sunday morning to see ESPN's "Outside the Lines" program on television should have just stayed in bed. It wasn't worth losing sleep over.

The program had been billed for some time as an ultimate investigation piece on the lawsuits resulting from the NCAA's latest investigation of the Alabama football program. It was said the network shot some 250 hours of footage, spent weeks putting the program together.

It lasted less that 30 minutes and if that was the best of what all was shot, the network needs to take a look at its reporters.

There had been talk last week through the state that the program would not live up to its billing. And it wasn't even that good.

The latest fad in basketball in recent years has been the T-shirts worn by fans with various team slogans.

One of the more popular one at the Northeast Regional Tournament last week at Jacksonville read: "Basketball is our Business" on the front. And on the back it said, "And business is good."

On the back of shirts from another team were the words, "Who's Next?"

There were others, all good, and worn proudly.

The Spring Garden shirts also had two words: "Yee Haw" on the back. They even put up a banner with those words.

A couple of fans in the stands said it went back to the 1987 state team when the Bright Twins were playing. They said the term was revived this year because Dana is helping her husband coach the team; and they are expecting to win another state title.

Coach Ricky Austin said it's true that Dana played on that state championship team, that she is helping coach this year's team and they are hoping to win a state title this year.

However, he said it is not true that the slogan has any connection with the `87 team.

He said during the past three years, as his players have gotten better as they matured and gained experience, the phrase became more popular. Something good would happen and someone would shout, "Yee Haw!"

It didn't become officially tied to the team however, until this year.

Earlier this year the team had an overnight lockdown in school gym. Coach Austin said one of the things they talked about was coming up with a slogan for this season.

"All the girls said we needed to go with `Yee Haw!'," Austin said. "So we did."

The girls will play at noon Tuesday against J.F. Shields. If they win, they will go for the championship at 4 p.m. Thursday. And it they win the state, as expected, people in Birmingham are going to hear that one big yell, "Yee Haw!" It will become a part of the legend of this team.

Litchfield's boys will play Sumter County at 1:30 Wednesday in Class 3A. Coach Reginald Huff's team will be playing in the Final Four for the sixth time, but only once has it advanced past the first round. That was when the seniors on this team were sophomores.

They went into the final game that year expecting to win, but LaFayette did. Since then LaDonte Harris said the team has set a goal of winning a state title before they graduated. This will be their final shot.

If they play as well this week as they did in the regional championship game against Crossville, they have a shot. But staying at that level may be tough. Both the players and coach said that was the best game they had ever played. They are also aware that this is no time for a letdown.

Four schools have both boys and girls teams in the Final Four - J.F. Shields in Class 1A, Pisgah in Class 2A, Deshier in Class 4A and Butler in Class 5A.

With three wins in a row, and four in the last five games, it appears Alabama is peaking at the right time. Wednesday the Tide will travel to Fayetteville, then the final game will be Saturday, a home game against Mississippi State. Alabama upset the Bulldogs in Starkville on Feb. 21.

If Alabama wins at Arkansas, then the stage will be set. Beat the Bulldogs again and it just might be worth a NCAA bid, despite all the losses in midseason.

<p>Alabama fans who got up early Sunday morning to see ESPN's "Outside the Lines" program on television should have just stayed in bed. It wasn't worth losing sleep over.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>The program had been billed for some time as an ultimate investigation piece on the lawsuits resulting from the NCAA's latest investigation of the Alabama football program. It was said the network shot some 250 hours of footage, spent weeks putting the program together.</p><p>It lasted less that 30 minutes and if that was the best of what all was shot, the network needs to take a look at its reporters.</p><p>There had been talk last week through the state that the program would not live up to its billing. And it wasn't even that good.</p><p><li> The latest fad in basketball in recent years has been the T-shirts worn by fans with various team slogans.</p><p>One of the more popular one at the Northeast Regional Tournament last week at Jacksonville read: "Basketball is our Business" on the front. And on the back it said, "And business is good."</p><p>On the back of shirts from another team were the words, "Who's Next?"</p><p>There were others, all good, and worn proudly.</p><p>The Spring Garden shirts also had two words: "Yee Haw" on the back. They even put up a banner with those words.</p><p>A couple of fans in the stands said it went back to the 1987 state team when the Bright Twins were playing. They said the term was revived this year because Dana is helping her husband coach the team; and they are expecting to win another state title.</p><p>Coach Ricky Austin said it's true that Dana played on that state championship team, that she is helping coach this year's team and they are hoping to win a state title this year.</p><p>However, he said it is not true that the slogan has any connection with the `87 team.</p><p>He said during the past three years, as his players have gotten better as they matured and gained experience, the phrase became more popular. Something good would happen and someone would shout, "Yee Haw!"</p><p>It didn't become officially tied to the team however, until this year.</p><p>Earlier this year the team had an overnight lockdown in school gym. Coach Austin said one of the things they talked about was coming up with a slogan for this season.</p><p>"All the girls said we needed to go with `Yee Haw!'," Austin said. "So we did."</p><p>The girls will play at noon Tuesday against J.F. Shields. If they win, they will go for the championship at 4 p.m. Thursday. And it they win the state, as expected, people in Birmingham are going to hear that one big yell, "Yee Haw!" It will become a part of the legend of this team.</p><p><li> Litchfield's boys will play Sumter County at 1:30 Wednesday in Class 3A. Coach Reginald Huff's team will be playing in the Final Four for the sixth time, but only once has it advanced past the first round. That was when the seniors on this team were sophomores.</p><p>They went into the final game that year expecting to win, but LaFayette did. Since then LaDonte Harris said the team has set a goal of winning a state title before they graduated. This will be their final shot.</p><p>If they play as well this week as they did in the regional championship game against Crossville, they have a shot. But staying at that level may be tough. Both the players and coach said that was the best game they had ever played. They are also aware that this is no time for a letdown.</p><p><li> Four schools have both boys and girls teams in the Final Four - J.F. Shields in Class 1A, Pisgah in Class 2A, Deshier in Class 4A and Butler in Class 5A.</p><p><li> With three wins in a row, and four in the last five games, it appears Alabama is peaking at the right time. Wednesday the Tide will travel to Fayetteville, then the final game will be Saturday, a home game against Mississippi State. Alabama upset the Bulldogs in Starkville on Feb. 21.</p><p>If Alabama wins at Arkansas, then the stage will be set. Beat the Bulldogs again and it just might be worth a NCAA bid, despite all the losses in midseason.</p>